Why do birds sing?
Birds chirping — an increase in bird song is one of the sure signs that spring is on the way. Some birds, like the little wren, sing all through the year. For most other birds, though, it is the arrival of spring that puts them in good voice. In most cases, the singing is done by male birds. Not all of it is tuneful. The woodpecker drums against a piece of wood in a form of song(?!). The snipe makes a drumming noise with its tail while it is in flight. Others just croak.
But in the birds world they all count as songs. And birds sing them for similar reasons. Attracting a mate is important, after all it has to keep its species survive. So male birds compete with each other, singing as well as they can to call the female birds. On the contrary, Bird-songs can also be warnings. ‘Clear off, this is my patch’ might well be the stern message in the delightful song we hear on a spring morning. Male birds need to protect their territory and its food, if they want to get a mate.
So singing can be both a greeting to female birds and a singing version of a punch on the nose to any male bird that tries to muscle in on the singer’s bit of the garden. tweet tweet!
